Christchurch temporary stadium a resounding success

With over 200,000 tickets sold since the venue's launch in March, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has applauding the success of Christchurch's new AMI Stadium.

Minister Brownlee explained "for a city of some 380,000 people this is a truly heartening response, which proves the importance of delivering a multi-use facility at a time when the community is picking itself up and moving on from the earthquakes.

"We always said the new stadium would be multi-use, and so it has proved, with rugby union including a great All Blacks' test rugby league, football, and now the summer concert season on our doorstep.

"The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) also hosted 20,000 Cantabrians to a hugely enjoyable free community day in April."

Most recently, on Saturday 3th November, the stadium hosted 'The Concert', a gathering of the Student Volunteer Army.

Meanwhile, reports that at Christchurch's former AMI Stadium (Lancaster Park) could be repaired for $45 million are leading to calls for plans for a new $500 million covered sports stadium in the city's CBD to be scrapped.

International geotechnical engineering experts and insurers have suggested that Lancaster Park's major grandstands, damaged by the September 2010 and February 2011 earthquakes, can be fixed cheaply.

The reports suggest that the stadium could be returned to its pre-earthquake specifications for "much less" than its $135 million insurance tag.

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